MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin revealed earlier this week he'd received a call from a counterpart with another team inquiring about potential trades.

But Brewers fans eager for another blockbuster deal after the acquisition of pitcher CC Sabathia saved last season shouldn't get their hopes too high.

"You don't have that many clubs call," Melvin said. "I talked to a GM (Tuesday) and it's probably the first one I've talked to about players or what are you doing, in probably 10 days so. It's not like it's a daily routine."

As a result, Melvin's assessment of the trade market before the July 31 deadline did not sound promising. "You make your phone calls but there's not a lot happening right now," he said.

Fans - and even some team owners - love to talk about potential trades. Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio stoked the fires a bit Thursday when he told The Associated Press, "We still have flexibility, we're a buyer, not a seller."

The Brewers are in need of a starting pitcher after Manny Parra was sent to the minors and Dave Bush went on the disabled list. But Attanasio also talked about finding another infielder with second baseman Rickie Weeks out for the season after wrist surgery.

It's up to Melvin to try to put a deal together, which is never quite as simple as fans make it out to be.

"No one wants to pick up the paper and see somebody's traded that you would like to have had," Melvin said. "One of the toughest things for us, you've got to identify players you're willing to give up in your organization before anything (happens).

"That's what we're going through. We've got a lot of people seeing a lot of our players in the system. Some players we just don't want to give up."

High price for pitching

At the top of the list are Class AAA Nashville shortstop Alcides Escobar and Brewers third baseman Mat Gamel. After dealing two top prospects last season in outfielders Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley to Cleveland in the Sabathia deal, Melvin has essentially identified Escobar and Gamel as untouchable.

"It's highly unlikely," Melvin said of a trade involving either player. "I find that almost impossible. You never say never. It's not my focus at all."

It takes a prospect like Gamel or Escobar to land a decent starting pitcher these days and even that might be hard, given injuries to San Diego's Jake Peavy (ankle) and Seattle's Erik Bedard (shoulder), which have further thinned the ranks of available pitchers.

"If you're going to trade pitching, they want players that are close to major-league ready," Melvin said. "That makes it a little more difficult.

"Most of our players here that are major-league ready are on the major-league club. There's a lot of clubs that aren't ready to give up those major-league-ready players today, because they just become more valuable."

Escobar, a phenomenal defensive player not known for his hitting, is putting together a huge season in his first year in Nashville. Going into Friday night's game, he was hitting .296, with a .342 on-base percentage and 19 doubles in 297 at-bats. He has also stolen 27 bases.

"He hasn't had a lot of lulls," Melvin said. "For the first year in Triple-A, that's pretty good. Most of his other years (at a new level), he started off slow.

"He's stealing bases, getting some extra-base hits. He's known for his fielding. His contributions offensively, he should get better as he plays."

Patience with Gamel

Some fans might wonder why Gamel would be considered an untouchable, given he is hitting .244 and slugging just .395. He has struggled at times in the field, with three errors, after he was called up from Nashville May 14.

Gamel's biggest problem might be comparisons to Ryan Braun, who made the jump to the major leagues look easier than it really is for most players. Both are top prospects, who came up as third basemen and put up gaudy offensive numbers in the minor leagues. Gamel was hitting .336 and slugging .647 in Nashville before his promotion.

"He's finding out what it's like to be in the big leagues," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "People do advanced scouting, they know what you can hit and can't hit. You get three hits one night, then they throw you all changeups and breaking balls the next day."

Gamel has started to look more comfortable recently. Take away his 1-for-10 as a pinch hitter and he's hitting .263. He also went 7-for-23 (.304) on last week's six-game trip.

"He gives you pretty good at-bats," Melvin said. "He had a good week on the road. He's getting more playing time. He's looking more comfortable the more at-bats he gets."

With Escobar tabbed as the Brewers' shortstop of the future, there is a chance they could trade current shortstop J.J. Hardy, who has struggled at the plate and was hitting .215 going into Friday night.

"Shortstops are so valuable," Melvin said. "So many teams (are) looking for shortstops. You don't have one, you can go years without having one."

But Melvin said he has not heard from teams interested in Hardy. Also, Melvin is leery of shopping players because that's how rumors get started.

"The thing about trades, you've got 29 other teams," Melvin said. "There are probably 20 of them that you're absolutely no match with. We do our work ahead of time.

"I'm not going to call another team and say would you have interest in so-and-so? If they already have a player (at that position), all that happens is somebody else tells somebody else."